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ABLOS 2005ABLOS 2005FUNDAMENTALS OF UNCLOS ARTICLE 76FUNDAMENTALS OF UNCLOS ARTICLE 76
SESSION 3SESSION 3
Territorial Sea Baselines, Maritime Zones and Maritime Boundaries
Chris Carleton
MARITIME ZONESMARITIME ZONES
• Internal Waters (UNCLOS Art 8)• Territorial Sea – Max 12M (UNCLOS Art 3)• Contiguous Zone – Max 24M (UNCLOS Art 33)• Exclusive Economic Zone – Max 200M (UNCLOS
PART V)• Continental Shelf (UNCLOS PART VI)• High Seas (UNCLOS PART VII)
DELIMITATION OF MARITIME ZONESDELIMITATION OF MARITIME ZONES
• Territorial Sea Baseline• Normal Baseline (UNCLOS Art 5)• The low water line as depicted on large scale charts
recognised by the coastal State.
Low-water line as depicted on an Admiralty chart
OTHER PARAMETERS OF THE NORMAL OTHER PARAMETERS OF THE NORMAL BASELINEBASELINE
• Bay Closing Lines (UNCLOS Art 10)
Baselines: Bays
<24M
Bay closing lines
• River Closing Lines (UNCLOS Art 9)
Further RulesFurther RulesHistoric Bays (UNCLOS Art 10.6)Historic Bays (UNCLOS Art 10.6)
The foregoing provisions do not apply to soThe foregoing provisions do not apply to so --called called ““ historichistoric ”” bays, or in any case where the system of bays, or in any case where the system of straight baselines provided for in article 7 is app lied. straight baselines provided for in article 7 is app lied.
Gulf of Sirte, Libya
300M
24M
LowLow --Tide Elevations (Art 13)Tide Elevations (Art 13)
• Naturally formed;• Above water at low-tide but submerged at high tide;• Can not be used as basepoint if >12M from mainland
or island.
Low-tide elevations
Straight Baselines (Art 7)Straight Baselines (Art 7)
• Where coastline is deeply indented, or fringe of islands; – or highly unstable delta coasts;
• Must follow the general direction of the coast;• Can’t use low-tide elevations, unless lighthouses o r
similar installations have been built on them;• No limit on length of line segments.
Baltic
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Ru
Russia
Denmark
StraightBaseline
Straight Baseline Detail
Australia
Bangladesh
StraightBaseline
(10 fathom)
TS limitFrom
coastline
0 50M
BangladeshSatellite imagery
BangladeshSatellite imagery
BangladeshSatellite imagery
BangladeshSatellite imagery
Chart – Satellite data comparison
+ +
Mauritania
StraightBaseline
Territorial Sea Limit
TS limitfrom normal
baseline
Mauritania
Iran
StraightBaseline
Black Sea Baselines
UKRAINE
UKRAINE
ROMANIA
MOLDOVA
CrimeanPeninsula
B L A C K S E A
StraightBaselines
Territorial SeaLimit
12M fromcoastline
Archipelagic BaselinesArchipelagic Baselines
• State constituted wholly by one or more archipelagos;
• Baselines < 100M (3% < 125M);• LTEs not allowed unless lighthouse built on it or
within 12M of island;• Land:Sea ratio between 1:1 and 1:9
SE Asia Overview
Australia
New Guinea
Philippines
Indonesia
Malaysia
Vietnam
E Timor
Indonesian ArchipelagoArchipelagic BaselineArchipelagic WatersArchipelagic Sea LanesArchipelagic Sea Lanes
12M radius
LTE
Calculation of 12M buffer
N.B. All zones drawn on spheroid
Envelope of arcs
LTE
Select contributing base points
LTE
12M radius Basepoints
Basepoint
Selecting basepoints:12M
LTE
LTE
Basepoints
200M radius
Contributing basepoints: 200M
LTE
Thames Estuary: Limits
Territorial Sea Limit
Bay Closing Line
Low Water Line
Enviromnmentaland Fisheries
Legislation
12M
6M
3M
1M
LTEsNot allowed
Maritime JurisdictionMaritime Jurisdiction
• Territorial Sea 12M• Contiguous Zone 24M• Exclusive Economic Zone 200M• Extended Continental Shelf 350M*• High seas/“Area” outside national jurisdiction
• *depending on criteria in UNCLOS Article 76
The Territorial SeaThe Territorial SeaUNCLOS Part IIUNCLOS Part II
• UNCLOS Article 3• Maximum Breadth 12M• Coastal State has sovereignty over the territorial sea• All vessels enjoy the right of innocent passage
through the territorial sea, UNCLOS Article 17.
Contiguous ZoneContiguous Zone
• Up to 24M from baselines• In the Contiguous Zone a coastal State may exercise
control necessary to– a) prevent infringements of its customs, fiscal,
immigration or sanitary laws and regulations within its territory or territorial sea;
– b) punish infringement of the above laws and regulations committed within its territory or terri torial sea.
Exclusive Economic ZoneExclusive Economic Zone
• 200M from baselines• Sovereign rights for exploitation of all resources
(fish, oil, gas, minerals, energy)• Jurisdiction regarding:
– artificial islands etc– marine scientific research– Environment
• All states enjoy freedoms of navigation, overflight , laying of pipelines and cables.
Exclusive Economic Zones (200M )
Outer Continental ShelfOuter Continental Shelf
• Beyond 200M (subject to Art 76 provisions)• Resources of seabed and subsoil only
– Sedentary species– Oil, gas, minerals
World
The The ““ AreaArea ””
• “Unclaimed” sea-bed;• Developed for the benefit of mankind;• Administered by the International Seabed Authority.
The Delimitation of Maritime BoundariesThe Delimitation of Maritime Boundaries
• UNCLOS Art 15, Art 74 and Art 83
Published in Navy News October 1987
Principles of DelimitationPrinciples of Delimitation
• Achieve an equitable result (UNCLOS)• Pre-UNCLOS favoured equidistance• Territorial Sea – median line (unless historical/spe cial circumstances)• Geographical circumstances
– Coastal length (relevant coast)– Economic (oil practice)– Weighting of islands– Use of low tide elevations
• Geology/geomorphology do not count (within 200M)
Wales-Ireland coastline
Wales-Ireland opposite coasts calculated median line
• Adjacent States• Equidistance Line
EARLY MARITIME DELIMITATION
• Maritime boundary delimitation is a relatively modern phenomena
• Prior to the 1958 Geneva Conventions very few boundaries were delimited beyond the territorial se a
• Territorial sea limits were narrow – 3 or 4 nautical miles
1958 GENEVA CONVENTIONS ON THE TERRITORIAL 1958 GENEVA CONVENTIONS ON THE TERRITORIAL SEA AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE AND THE SEA AND CONTIGUOUS ZONE AND THE
CONTINENTAL SHELFCONTINENTAL SHELF
• Both Conventions favoured the median line except in cases of historic title or other special circumstan ces
EARLY UK MARITIME DELIMITATIONEARLY UK MARITIME DELIMITATION
• The 1960s – Median line solutions derived graphically using specially prepared equal area projections
• 1965 – UK/Norway• 1966 – UK/Netherlands• The 1970s – Still generally median lines but derived using
computers
THE CHANGE TO EQUITABLE PRINCIPLESTHE CHANGE TO EQUITABLE PRINCIPLES
The JurisprudenceThe Jurisprudence
• The North Sea Continental Shelf Case – 1969• The subsequent delimitations – 1971• The UK/France Channel arbitration – 1977• Canada/USA (Gulf of Maine) – 1984• Malta/Libya – 1985• Denmark(Greenland)/Norway(Jan Mayen) - 1993
Are we moving back to the median line?Are we moving back to the median line?
Three examples of recent judgements that may suggest that we are:
Eritrea/Yemen – 1999Bahrain/Qatar – 2001
Nigeria/Cameroon - 2002
Yemen-Eritraea 1999 Arbitration
Eritraea
Yemen
Judgment
Median Line
Territorial Sea Limit
CONCLUSIONSCONCLUSIONS
• Early maritime boundaries were generally median lines• Boundaries in the 1970s to 1990s relied upon equitable principles• Modern trends appear to be moving back towards a median line
based solution taking account of geographical inequality
Questions?